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OK, sounds like a weird subject. I'm building my third guitar, but I'm a beginning guitar player, with no teacher yet. I'm working on learning the basic open and barred chords, and starting to get the callus pads on my left hand fingertips. How long/short should my nails be- ie, should I cut them very short, so only the callus pads hit the strings?

TIA

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Keep them really short. The string must be stopped properly against the fret to produce a proper sound and nails can only interfere with the process.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

I'm a first time builder, and an intermediate level classical guitar player.
I remember having callusses on my left hand fingers when I started to play, but they are long gone and I assume that they were from poor technique.
Do all steel sting players have callusses?

Ray

[QUOTE=Ray Pepalis]
Do all steel sting players have callusses?

Ray[/QUOTE]


As far as I know. I've played steel string for 43 years, and sometimes, now, I may go 4 or 5 months without playing. If my fingers aren't callused I sometimes will get blisters during an hour session. I can play the banjo without calluses, but it takes much less force to fret than a steel string.   of course, it also depends on the gauge of string and how high your action is, but I want calluses when I play.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Ray,

The nylon strings on your classical guitar(s) are not as prone to causing the formation of calluses because they are larger diameter, at lower tension and thus, overall softer on your fingers I guess. If you play a SS or electric enough you will get calluses.

When I played a lot, I used sandpaper to file them down to a reasonable thickness, just like Stanley Clarke.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

[QUOTE=Ray Pepalis]
I remember having callusses on my left hand fingers when I started to play, but they are long gone and I assume that they were from poor technique.
Do all steel sting players have callusses?

Ray[/QUOTE]
Ray, I don't think it has anything to do with technique or the type of strings. You probably do have calluses, they've just changed in appearance. I've noticed that, on some people who play regularly, the hard crust disappears and their fingertips look and feel smooth again. However, when they start fretting, deep grooves will show on their fingertips, and will stay there for some time after playing. They also feel no pain. That indicates calluses. The fingertips of someone who's never played before would smooth out in short order; and it would hurt.

[QUOTE=gozierdt] How long/short should my nails be- ie, should I cut them very short, so only the callus pads hit the strings?[/QUOTE]
Yes, short is best, Gene. You'll find, as you progress, that you won't always be able to fret a string with the very tip of your finger. Often, especially when executing chords, you'll need to press on a string with a part of your finger that's near the end of your fingernail. So, obviously, excess nailage would get in the way. With regular playing, calluses tend to envelop the entire end of your fingers, not just a small area on the tip.

Great, Thanks everybody for the responses- off to find my fingernail clippers

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

I've played steel string for about forty years and it seems that now the whole end of my four fingers are just kind of 'hard', I think it must be some kind of scar tissue that builds up under the skin from constant damage to the underlying tissues. I don't get the callouses much now and I could also rob a bank without leaving fingerprints, as long as I used only my left hand!

Oh, yes keep those nails short, in the string box on all my guitar cases there is a set of nail clippers and an emery board.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.